The Second Step To Losing Weight

If you have, you discovered that the external world is NOT the driving force in who you become or what you experience i.e. what weight-loss results you get or don’t get, what program you do, how much confidence you have, how insecure you might be or what you’re currently experiencing right now.

You discovered that in order to finally start losing the weight, you first have to take control of your thoughts and feelings, and really focusing on your weight-loss goal and doing whatever it takes to lose the weight.

Most people give up because they’re not mentally and/or emotionally prepared to go through what it takes to experience the goals they’ve set for themselves.

They’re either too comfortable, too scared or maybe even both to make the changes necessary to achieve their goals.

They might think it’s too hard or not worth it, but in reality, it doesn’t matter what you’re trying to achieve, it’s always going to take some work because you’re trying to make things change.

Whenever you’re trying to do anything new or different (which is exactly what we’re doing when trying to lose weight – you’re trying to eat differently, exercise differently, and keep yourself committed all at the same time)… whenever we’re trying to do any of this stuff, if you’re not mentally and emotionally prepared for it, you’re going to find it challenging.

And that’s just natural in the world of learning.

In education, they call this, “The Phases of Learning.”

Put simply, whenever we’re trying to learn anything new or different, we always go through these 4 phases of learning.

1. Unconscious Incompetence – You’re completely incompetent at the skill and you don’t even know it.
2. Conscious Incompetence – You realize you’re incompetent at the skill and you’re trying to improve.
3. Conscious Competence – You can perform the skill but you still have to think about performing the skill.
4. Unconscious Competence – You can perform the skill and you don’t even have to think about it.

As you can see from the image above, it takes some time to be able to perform the skill. Naturally, you struggle. You have to think about the steps, plan out the process, and actually think about every step it takes to perform the skill.

But…

After the consistent practice of effective action and strategies, you become unconsciously competent.

And recognize that you don’t get there straight away.

You get there by going through phases where you’re terrible at the skill and you don’t even know it, you realize you’re terrible at the skill and you’re trying to change it, and finally performing the skill but you have to think about it.

It’s not by going from a complete newbie to an expert.

With weight-loss, it’s what most of us think we have to do. We think that if we buy a program we’ll lose weight. If we hire a Personal Trainer, we’ll be skinny by summer. Or, if we try this new diet, we’ll lose 10 pounds in 10 days.

Yes, it can work like that, but more often than not it doesn’t.

Why?

Because these programs, workout regimens, and/or diets require us to do things differently. They require us to eat differently, exercise if we’re not already, and do it over a sustained period of time.

For most people, this is a shock to the system. And because they weren’t expecting it to be so different to what they’re used to, they give up, lose focus, or fail to follow through because they weren’t mentally and emotionally prepared to deal with the phases of learning that’s required when trying to do something new or different.

If you are prepared, you’re more likely to stay committed, stay focused, and follow through with your plan – or even find a new one if the one you selected isn’t working.

Once you’ve taken control of your thoughts and feelings, and once you’ve mentally and emotionally prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve your goal, then, the next step is to find the best tools and strategies.

And in terms of losing weight, that’s anything that’s been proven to help you achieve your weight-loss goal within the time frame that you have set.

For example, if you’ve got a goal to lose 5kg (11lbs) within the next 6 weeks, there’s no point doing a 12-week program you’ve found online somewhere because it’s not within the time frame you want.

I know this is blatantly obvious but you’ll be surprised at how many of us actually do this.

And we do it because we don’t take a little bit of time out of our days to jump on the internet and do a bit of research.

It doesn’t take that long.

Whatever amount of weight you want to lose in whatever amount of time, just google it and choose a way you think will best suit you.

For example, if you google “6-week weight-loss plan” you’ll get millions of results.

Choose something you think:

Will work – look at reviews, testimonials, and research backing up claims.

You can do – read the program’s description and ask yourself, “Can I do this?” If so, consider it.

You can stick to – Weight-loss is not overnight. It’s a process over weeks, month and even years. Choose something you think you can stick with.

Once you’ve got about 5 options that meet the standards above, then it’s time to break it down to the one you think will work the most.

Number the list in the order of which you think will work and not work (1=best, 5=worst).

Do option number 1 – or at least try it out for a week or two.

If you don’t like it after that trial period, then go to the next option. Or if you don’t have time to waste, choose the best option and stick with it until the end.

Again, I know that you may find this all to be pretty obvious stuff but you’ll be surprised at how many people need to hear from someone else for it to stand out to them as something to do.

So all in all, once you’ve taken control of your thoughts and feelings.

Once you have mentally and emotionally prepared for your weight-loss journey.